Morris-Jumel Mansion

While none of Audubon Park’s villas remain as testaments to the neighborhood’s rural origins, the nearby Morris-Jumel Mansion dates back to the 18th century, when British families, like the Morrises, established comfortable country estates in Harlem Heights, attracted by its cool breezes and panoramic views. General George Washington used this two-story mansion as his headquarters during the Battle of Harlem Heights in September of 1776, evacuating that November before the Battle of Fort Washington. Remodeled in 1810, the mansion is a mix of the Georgian and Federal styles, boasting a Tuscan-columned portico, hipped roofs and wood boards and quoins imitating stone. The house and estate changed hands several times in the 19th century, but still retained its isolated nature until 1882, when the Jumel family subdivided the land and developed the two rows of wooden houses that still stand on nearby Sylvan Terrace. In 1903, a group of patriotic women petitioned the city to purchase the house and allow the Washington Headquarters Association, founded by the Daughters of the American Revolution, to operate it as a museum.